“Oh yeah?” Kyle challenged.
“Yeah.” Aubrey wouldn’t back down.
Kyle smiled. “Fair enough. Can I be happy about one thing, though?”
“I don’t know, which thing is it?” Aubrey hoped it would be something more in that vein of how he missed her friendship. Those words from him had set her soul to melting.
“The fact that you’re now calling them mamas without making air quotes.”
Aubrey laughed. It was the kind of full deep laugh that passes between two people who are comfortable with each other. “Okay, you win on that one. I totally allow you to be happy about that.”
Kyle slowed down and put on his right-hand blinker. He was pulling into the tiny Timberville Post Office. “You don’t mind if I stop here and pick up a few things, do you? I won’t be more than five minutes.”
“Not at all.”
Thanks. I told Claudette I’d come by and pick them up today to save her from having to lug them from the road up to the door of my house.” Kyle explained.
Aubrey didn’t mind. “No, problem. Besides, you’re the one helping my family out which puts me firmly on your schedule.”
Kyle pulled into one of the five parking spots in front of the tiny Post Office. “I’ll only be a couple minutes.”
Aubrey became exasperated with his excessive kindness, a little bit like Mrs. Lough had became exasperated with Kyle the previous day. “Quit apologizing! I don’t mind at all.”
Kyle opened his door and stepped out into the parking lot he scraped of snow earlier this morning. “I’ll leave the truck on for you, so you don’t get cold.”
“Kyle, I’m warning you” Aubrey revved her engines.
“Right. Right. I’m going to quit apologizing now.” Kyle shut the door of his truck and strode into the Post Office.
Aubrey watched him go while she wondered what was going on with her. Why was her heart fluttering to hear him talk about missing her for twelve years? She lived in New York. She had a great life there. At least, assuming she had the competence to turn around the deal with Mr. Clarke, she had a great life there. And to be honest, she did believe she could turn that deal around. Victoria might act like she thought Aubrey deserved an annual ‘needs improvement’ on her year-end review, but there was a reason she wanted Aubrey to meet Mr. Clarke tomorrow. Aubrey was her best hope of saving the deal. Victoria knew it.
So, why was she sitting here in this truck feeling like an eighth grader falling for the cute boy in geography class? More importantly, why was the fact she felt like she was falling for the cute boy in geography class not causing her tremendous guilt with regard to Walter? The ease with which she gained detachment from her commitment to Walter over the last twenty-four hours troubled her. It signaled there were problems in her relationship. She would have to spend some time going through these thoughts once Christmas was over. She wasn’t at the place where she could actively think of Walter as a mistake, at least not yet, but she was beginning to put two and two together.
The more she thought about it, the more she realized no one who really knew and cared about her had convincingly told her congratulations on her engagement to Walter. That also wasn’t a good sign. As these thoughts swirled in her mind, she realized her mom hadn’t mentioned Walter’s name since she got home. Perhaps even more damning, Aubrey hadn’t mentioned his name either. The wedding was less than three months away and neither of them brought him up once.
Kyle came back out of the Post Office carrying an unwieldy box which, judging by the picture on the side, was a crib for a baby. He leaned it up against the grill of his pickup and then went back inside. Aubrey decided to offer help because the crib looked as heavy as it was awkward. She opened her door and stepped to the parking lot. She made it to the front of the truck when Kyle came back out carrying an equally bulky bassinette.
Aubrey unleashed a delicious smile in Kyle’s direction. “I’m getting the feeling there is there something you’re not telling me about your personal life, Mr. Morgan.”
Kyle laughed. He’d been thinking of making the same joke, just in an inverse way. “They’re not for me. It’s for this secret Santa thing I do every year. I pick one deserving family in the area and hope I can make their Christmas a little brighter.”
Aubrey shook her head at Kyle’s benevolence. “You are a regular modern-day saint, aren’t you?”
“I just believe in The Magic of Christmas.” Kyle responded.
That was something her dad used to say, ‘The Magic of Christmas’. He believed in it too, just like Kyle. “That’s fine as long as you remember to do something for yourself, Saint Kyle.”
“I will, and I do.” Kyle let the tailgate down on his truck and slid the bassinette in as far as he could reach. Then he walked back around to the front where Aubrey was waiting for him. “You trying to help me carry this?” He asked.
“You trying to let me.” Aubrey allowed her face to invite more flirting from Kyle.
Kyle accepted the invitation without hesitation. “Like I said when I picked you up last night, you’re an unstoppable force, I don’t reckon I could stop you.” Kyle picked up the bottom of the crib box while Aubrey maintained her hold on the top. Together they carried it to the bed of Kyle’s truck. “And just so you know, I’m about to do something for myself right now.”
“What’s that?” Aubrey felt her heart flutter.
“Drop these packages off at my shop here in town so there will be room in my truck for us to go pick out a Christmas tree for your scheming mama.” Aubrey laughed again. The sight of her enjoying herself thrilled him. He wished he could think of funny things to say every few minutes so he could have the experience over and over. He doubted the way it made him feel would ever wear out even if he got to see it every day for an entire lifetime.
Aubrey shut the rest of the world out and allowed herself to be happy for a moment. “You are too much,” she said. She followed Kyle around to the front of his truck where they repeated the lifting and carrying process with the bassinette.
Kyle closed his tailgate and walked with Aubrey around to the passenger’s side of his truck. When they got to her door, he opened it for her. An old-fashioned hopeless romantic he couldn’t resist this bit of door opening chivalry. “Maybe, I’m just enough.”
Aubrey noticed these door opening shenanigans and gave in to the temptation to say something about it to him. “You can’t impress me with your countrified manners. I grew up in Timberville. I’m used to it.”
“My mama always says you never get used to being treated right.”
As she buckled her seat belt, Aubrey thought to question the attribution. “Does your mom really say that?”
“No, I just made it up on the spot.” Kyle admitted.
Aubrey clucked her tongue at Kyle, “you are in a mood today.”
It was Kyle’s turn to laugh. “Hard to be in a bad mood when The Great Aubrey Wilson is in town.”
Kyle went to shut the door, but Aubrey held up her hand to stop him. There was one more thing she wanted to say. “Hey, no matter what happens this Christmas, I want you to know something.”
Kyle braced himself for whatever Aubrey had to tell him. He knew enough to let her speak her piece. Any chance he had at a second chance began and ended with her permission. There was little he could say to change that without letting her in on his secret. Since he couldn’t do that, he would have to let her get back to seeing the two of them as a couple on her own.
After the pause in which she collected her feelings, Aubrey finished her thought. “I’ve missed you too.”
Kyle had never heard anything sweeter.
Chapter Six
Kyle parked his truck near the back of the snow-covered gravel lot at Old Man Peterson’s Christmas tree farm. There were still a lot of last-minute people shopping for trees and Kyle’s truck was basically a tank with a snow plough on the front, so he saved the spots closer to the road for those whose vehicles were more likely to get
stuck in the deeper snow. Of course, he also knew if anyone did get stuck while he was there, he would be the one to pull them out of their predicament.
Old Man Peterson’s was a carnival of winter time farm activity. Aubrey and Kyle hadn’t cleared the edge of the parking area before they were stopped by Old Man Peterson’s great-granddaughter, Dolly Peterson. She was fifteen and selling actual chestnuts roasting on an open fire… pit. A hand painted sign behind her suggested the proceeds from the chestnut sale would go to support a local performance artist. The sign was completed by a small picture which let shoppers know the local performance artist in question was… Dolly herself. That was a bit of entrepreneurial spirit Kyle couldn’t pass by without encouraging, even though he had no idea whether he liked roasted chestnuts since he had never had one before.
“Get your fresh roasted chestnuts.” Dolly did her best imitation of a barker as Kyle and Aubrey approached. A bit of gamesmanship that was as unnecessary as it was completely within the scope of Dolly’s abundant personality. Kyle and Aubrey were a mere two feet away when she began her barking.
“How much for a bag?” Kyle pulled his wallet from his back jeans pocket as he asked.
“Kyle Immanuel Morgan, I know your mama didn’t raise you to let your Christmas date pay for her own roasted chestnuts.” Kyle added an entry to his mental register that another character in this Christmas Story had referred to him by all three of his names, while Dolly winked at Aubrey over the dating comment she just made.
“Oh, we’re not dating.” Aubrey hastily corrected Dolly.
Dolly looked at Aubrey askance. She chose to ignore the dating denial. She then scooped up two heaping bags of chestnuts and exchanged them for the twenty Kyle held out to her. “That’ll be fifteen dollars.” She gave Kyle his five dollars in change. “That price is just for you. Seeing as how you’re on a date and don’t want to look cheap. And seeing as how I’m running out of time to collect money for my performance of A Christmas Carol.”
Since Dolly had again accused Aubrey and Kyle of being on a date, Aubrey felt the need to attempt further clarification of their relationship status. “We are not dating. And we are not on a date either.”
Dolly delivered another of her sideways looks to Aubrey, while choosing to ignore the dating refutation a second time. “When you’re finished with the chestnuts, make sure you put those bags in one of the recycle stations and not in the trash. We try hard to maintain a green Christmas tree farm and we can use all the help we can get.”
“Will do,” Kyle replied.
Dolly opened a shoe box that was next to her cash box and removed two hand drawn tickets. She handed one ticket to Aubrey and one to Kyle. The tickets featured classic scenes from Dicken’s A Christmas Carol which had been drawn by a better than average uncredited local artist.
“What is this?” Aubrey asked.
“Two tickets to my one-woman performance of A Christmas Carol. One night only.” Dolly said sweetly.
“Would Christmas Eve happen to be the one night?” Kyle asked.
“What night, other than Christmas Eve, would work for Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol?” Dolly left space for either of them to challenge her that there was a better night. Aubrey and Kyle remained silent. “The tickets are complimentary with the chestnuts, just so’s you don’t think I was gouging you, which I wasn’t. I could have gouged you, with you two being on a date and all, but I didn’t because that’s not how we Peterson’s operate.”
“Thank you, Dolly.” Kyle started to walk off toward the main part of the farm. Aubrey remained behind a second. She was burning to clear something up. She couldn’t let it go without trying one more time.
Aubrey didn’t want to cause a scene, so she leaned in close to Dolly and whispered in her ear. “Just so you know, we really are not dating.”
Dolly laughed, she engaged her with the full width of her country sensibilities. “Oh sugar, you two just aren’t dating yet. Trust me, I may only be fifteen years old, but I have an eye for these things.”
Frustrated by Dolly’s teenagerly insouciance, Aubrey hustled off to catch up with Kyle. There was no sense in arguing with her. She wouldn’t change her assessment of Aubrey and Kyle no matter what Aubrey said. For sure, the more Aubrey argued about it, the more Dolly would insist her point was proved. Besides, the kid was super-cute and reminded Aubrey of herself at that age, why not let her be right? It wasn’t like Aubrey believed there was anything between her and Kyle. What could it hurt if a teenaged hurricane of personality believed there was? More power to her.
*
Some years before, the Peterson Family built an impressive wooden arch that served as a visual reference to the beginning of their Christmas tree forest. Aubrey and Kyle approached it at an almost slow-motion speed. Anyone watching them would imagine they were a freshly minted couple who still enjoyed spending undirected time with each other. If not brand-new lovers, then they would have been mistaken for one of those extremely fortunate pairs that are perpetually in love, and never tire of spending undirected time with each other.
Aubrey and Kyle were so lost in their own little world, neither of them saw Marcus Peterson in his chair off to the left of the arch. He sat there whittling the time in between customers away. “Good morning, Kyle. Have to say, I didn’t expect to see you again this year.”
Kyle redirected his attention from Aubrey to Marcus. It required a bit of concentration on his part. “Oh hey, Marcus. This one’s not for me. It’s for the Wilson family.” Kyle made introductory arm motions between Marcus and Aubrey. Nothing more formal was required since they had known each other for years, even if it had been more than a decade since Aubrey had been out here.
Marcus took a long look at Aubrey. “Well, shake my timbers, that there is Aubrey Wilson, isn’t it?”
Aubrey did a small curtsey, “that’s me,” she said.
“Oh lord, your father used to come here the day after Thanksgiving every year without fail. That man had more Christmas spirit than a herd of red-nosed reindeer.” Aubrey smiled politely, which caused Marcus to remove his hat. He realized his attempt at good-natured eulogy may have caused more harm than good. He attempted to smooth it over the best way he knew how. “We were all sorry to see him pass this year, Aubrey.”
Aubrey had no desire to keep Marcus on any sort of hook, so she immediately bailed him out with, “he was a great man and a great father.”
“Yes, ma’am. I believe that is the God’s honest.” Marcus put his hat back on. “Your tree is on the house this year, Miss Wilson.”
“Oh, I couldn’t accept that.” Aubrey protested.
“Nonsense, your father bought at least one tree from this farm every year for thirty years. I was a boy no older than my youngest, Dolly, the first time I remember him coming out here. Grandpa Peterson would jallop my gizzards if he knew I charged you.” Marcus added the part about ‘jalloping gizzards’ just for Aubrey’s sake. People like her got such a charge out of hearing him indulge in his farm-life slang.
In that moment, Aubrey’s cell phone rang, she looked down and saw it was Victoria. “Kyle, I’m sorry, but I have to take this.”
Kyle was nonplussed. “No problem, Aubrey. I’ll meet you up the hill. The tall ones start about seven rows back.”
Aubrey nodded at Kyle to show she heard the plan for where they would meet when she finished her conversation. She then answered her phone. She wandered into the first few rows of trees while Kyle continued making small talk with Marcus. It was quiet. In between gathering clouds, the sun drifted down through evergreen boughs. The opposite of everything she expected would come through the line and into her ear after she delivered her, “hello.”
True to form, Victoria assaulted Aubrey without bothering to include anything in the way of greeting. She cut right to the heart of what she wanted to say and wasted no syllables on things that didn’t interest her, like, cultivating human relationships. “I have new information from our contact within the comp
any.”
“That’s good.” Aubrey lacked the enthusiasm she knew Victoria expected.
“It’s not good, it’s great.”
What was Aubrey supposed to say to that? She racked her brain for an appropriate response. “Of course.” Wow, her brain was not doing her any favors this morning.
“Don’t sound too excited,” Victoria chided.
Aubrey wanted to get off this verbal rack of torture, so she plunged in with a request for details. “Believe me I am excited; I just want to see what you’ve learned so I can use it when I confront Mr. Clarke tomorrow.” That was much better. Victoria was a master at prolonging cruel mistreatment, but Aubrey knew what buttons to push to get her to move on when she’d had enough. It was a skill she had honed after five years working underneath her.
“I spoke with Michael again this morning. He says Mr. Clarke let slip the real reason he pulled out of the deal as they were traveling around visiting stores. It turns out it’s something we have a workaround for.”
Aubrey was very interested to hear this reason. She had met Mr. Clarke several times. Her initial feeling that he was a quality human being had only grown sharper with each new encounter. She also had the idea the respect she felt for him, was mutual. She genuinely wanted to know what caused this shrewd businessman to walk away from two and a half billion dollars in cash. “Great. So, what is the reason?” Victoria took forever getting to the point because she relished knowing more about her deals than her subordinates.
“He doesn’t like that there is no guarantee about layoffs.” Victoria couldn’t hide the contempt she felt for this reason. In her eyes, Mr. Clarke was a weak businessman. He let his feelings for people color his decisions.
Aubrey, on the other hand, loved it. “So, he’s just worried about the people that work for him.”
First Christmas Page 7